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Wesen
Wesen (VES-sin; Ger. "a being" or "creature") is a collective term used to describe the creatures visible to the Grimms and humans. They are the basis not only of the fairy tales that the Brothers Grimm have compiled, but also of the many legends and folklore from many cultures (i.e. Anubis, Aswang, Chupacabra, and Wendigo).When Wesen woge, they are able to recognize a Grimm by looking into their eyes. They can see an "infinite darkness" in a Grimm's eyes that allows a Wesen to see their reflection, where they can see their true Wesen nature. Many Wesen find it unsettling to see themselves reflected, and Monroe and Rosalee told Nick that it took some time for them to get used to it. History Wesen are descended from an ancient set of Wesen races known as Pureblood Wesen. Purebloods exhibit traits which make them seem immortal and God-like compared to humans, and in ancient times, many of them were worshiped as Gods and Goddesses. Today, however, Purebloods tend to try not to attract attention in an arguably more dangerous world and instead pull ropes on a quieter level than they once did. In doing so, they have generally lost their religious significance, becoming legends to Wesen and myths to Kehrseiten.(Issue 10)Wesen were once worshiped as Gods in Egypt, hence why many Egyptian Gods such as Anubis, Bastet, Tefnut, Ammit, and Khepri are depicted with animal-like features. A few thousand years ago, thousands of slaves were tortured in search of Anubis, and a few of them were successfully mummified fully woged. The Beati Paoli are a group of Wesen that formed in the 17th century who are fully against the display of deceased Wesen for the world to see and go after things such as museums, archaeological digs, antique auction houses, and sometimes private Wesen collectors if the collector is trafficking stolen Wesen antiquities. Most Wesen, including the Wesen Council, do not condone their methods, but they often have the same disapproving opinion of deceased Wesen being on display. ("Once We Were Gods") During and before the Fourth Crusade, Wesen were used to fight in the armies of the Royal families, who used the Grimms to control and police their Wesen armies. Over the years, the Royal families either lost so much global power and influence that they could no longer use the Wesen as armies, or they had no need for Wesen soldiers and let the creatures spread across the world. ("Bad Teeth") Over the centuries, carnivals have been known to house shows that force Wesen to fully woge for the act. These carnivals date back to Circus Maximus in Rome, but have since become much more uncommon. Despite knowingly showing Wesen in full woge to humans, they technically do not break the Gesetzbuch Ehrenkodex due to the carnivals in question passing the Wesen off as magic tricks. ("The Show Must Go On") Characteristics To date, if there has been a study on Wesen origins, it has not surfaced. Wesen are liminal, that is, they display two states of existence simultaneous within one physical body. ("Happily Ever Aftermath") Physiologically, Wesen are parahuman, exhibiting two distinct sets of DNA within the same system. ("Big Feet") When in human form, Wesen are, by all accounts, physiologically that way and thus, can pass as human. However, certain aspects about them still sets them apart from the rest of humanity, such as the addictive effects that Jay has upon them (which would otherwise be fatal for humans) and their susceptibility to the Yellow Plague. Every creature encountered by Nick Burkhardt is Wesen (excluding La Llorona, Volcanalis, the Golem, Mishipeshu, and Jack the Ripper).The community consists of both good and bad creatures ranging from Blutbaden to Bauerschwein to Mauvais Dentes. Individually, Wesen generally behave stereotypically in accordance to their own kind (i.e. the Blutbaden being fierce and vindictive, Siegbarste being dangerously vengeful, or Mellifers having a hive-like mentality and penchant for sending messages). Some Wesen follow ritualistic practices passed down through history (i.e. theAseveracion and the Roh-hatz). Other than the Grimms keeping the Wesen in check, only the Seven Housesare aware of the real workings of the world, as the majority of humanity is blissfully unaware of their existence.Ziegevolk, Musai, and Cracher-Mortel all have abilities that allow them to influence or have complete control over people. Ziegevolk use their pheromones to control and manipulate whoever they want, usually women. ("Lonelyhearts") ("One Angry Fuchsbau") Musai's lips secrete a psychotropic substance, making its kiss known to be very euphoric and addictive. After they kiss someone, they are able to easily manipulate their victims, who will do whatever they have to in order to prove their love for the Musai, even kill someone or die themselves. ("Kiss of the Muse") Cracher-Mortel have the ability to create an army of zombie-like victims by spitting tetradotoxin on to the face of a victim, which seeps into the skin of the victim or is inhaled by the victim and shuts down the neurosignals of nerves and heart cells, causing suspended animation. Atropine and scopolamine toxins reanimate the victim in a zombified state. In this state, the victim is in a trance and will perform whatever task is asked of them by the Cracher-Mortel. ("The Waking Dead") ("Goodnight, Sweet Grimm") ("The Ungrateful Dead") Despite being parahuman themselves, many Wesen eat humans (ex: Blutbaden, Schakals, Wendigo, Coyotls, and Mauvais Dentes) or other Wesen (ex: Blutbaden eat Bauerschwein and Seelengut, while Lausenschlangeeat Mauzhertz).Some Wesen, like Raub-Kondors, hunt other Wesen, such as Glühenvolk, for their skins. They use a potion called Sauver Sa Peau to keep them woged after death for up to 8 hours so they can skin them.It may also be possible to turn Wesen into normal humans via drugs. Konstantin Brinkerhoff pioneered a series of medicines that would supposedly remove the ability to woge. While the experiments were undoubtedly a failure, ("Big Feet") it must be pointed out that Brinkerhoff insisted that the drugs would work if he'd been given the time to perfect the dosage and delivery system. It was also unclear as to whether the drugs interfered with other Wesen abilities, such as enhanced smell (Blutbaden) and increased bone density (Siegbarste). Behavior Some species, such as Blutbaden and Fuchsbaus, will perform an action called Vertrautheiten (Germ. "familiarities"), which is a way for two different species to start trusting each other more, as being very close to another being is a special and sacred thing for Wesen. They let another Wesen get close enough to "memorize" their scent. To complete the action, the Wesen involved woge and then smell and rub up against each other on both sides of the other's face. ("Revelation")If Wesen force their woge too many times and too often, their Wesen side can eventually start to take over, a situation known as the Umkippen (Germ. "tip," "upset"). If a Wesen is suffering from the Umkippen, their Wesen side could get out of control and completely eclipse any shred of humanity left if one does not go through some form of intervention. The suffering Wesen suffers blackouts and doesn't remember anything during the time that they lose control. ("The Show Must Go On") Species For the TV series, there have been a total of 103 Wesen species encountered, mentioned, seen in a diary, or seen in Rosalee's spice shop books, and 5''' non-Wesen beings encountered. There have also been '''17 other species seen or mentioned in the Grimm comics, 1''' species in the novels, and '''2 species that have never been seen or mentioned anywhere except for on the Season 1 DVD packaging and in Aunt Marie's Book of Lore. Note: The Rißfleisch and the Waschbar are counted separately between the show and the comics, as the Rißfleisch was only seen in a Grimm diary and the Waschbar was only mentioned on the show, but they both appeared in the comics. =